Gandhi, the upcoming series directed by Hansal Mehta, will follow India's struggle for independence while providing an in-depth portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi at different stages in his life, says producer Sameer Nair, comparing the show's narrative depth to the acclaimed international series The Crown.
Starring Pratik Gandhi in the titular role, the series promises an exploration of Gandhi's life and the diverse characters who shaped India's fight for freedom.
Sameer, the managing director of Applause Entertainment, said while Gandhi is a globally recognised figure, the show seeks to present a 'deeply personal story' that goes beyond his iconic status.
“When (Richard) Attenborough made Gandhi, he had only two and a half hours to tell his story and he ended up showing Gandhi in a narrow lens. What we are hoping to do with this is to also tell the story of the Indian independence and there are so many other characters involved,” Sameer told PTI in an interview.
He added they are planning to make the show into three seasons.
"It's not just Gandhi, it's also about people who are with him, who were against him, the British and the whole situation. So, these three seasons are more like our The Crown (Netflix's hit show on the British royal family),” he said.
Hansal has enjoyed great success in the streaming space with critically-acclaimed shows such as Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story and Scoop and Sameer hopes Gandhi would turn out to be a show that the whole world watches.
The series will have its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.
The banner is known for shows such as Vikramaditya Motwane's Black Warrant, Nagesh Kukunoor's The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination, Hansal Mehta's Scam 1992, and Pankaj Tripathi-starrer Criminal Justice among others.
Gandhi is based on renowned historian and author Ramachandra Guha's books -- Gandhi Before India and Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World.
The show will also feature Pratik Gandhi's wife Bhamini Oza as Kasturba Gandhi and Harry Potter star Tom Felton as Josiah Oldfield. Sameer informed that through three seasons they hope to track Gandhi's journey from 1888 through 1947.
The first season is dedicated to the years 1888 to 1915, while subsequent seasons will cover 1915 to 1932 and finally, 1932 to 1947, he said.
“Gandhi is going to be a big one and now it's ready. Hansal is there, Pratik is playing the role, and AR Rahman is doing the music. So, it's all come together quite well. Hopefully, that should be ready by the end of August,” he said.
"Then we'll take it out there and see how to put it out. But that will be a big one. Season one is about the younger Gandhi that you don't know about, it's a young adult story, we call season one 'Mohan to Mahatma'." Sameer said the first season is about an 18-year-old who goes to London to study law.
"So, it's not the Mahatma you see on the currency note or the person that we all know about. It's a different guy and how he becomes that (Mahatma). So, it's very fascinating,” he added.
Sameer said they are hoping to release the first season of the show in India by December end.
“It is quite an expensive project. It's not easy to do this. We've taken some time writing it because you are writing about extremely famous and large public figures and it needs to be done (right),” he said.
"We tell human stories. We take the camera very close to the people and we try to tell human stories. So, it's not about the great, it's about the people, and how they became great,” he said, adding that they haven't shot for the subsequent seasons of Gandhi yet.
